Between a rock and a hard place : the future of EU treaty revisions

Abstract

In the heat of the economic crisis, the demands for treaty revision have re-emerged in the EU agenda. However, any future reform will have to deal with the strictness of the revision procedure, which is caused by the obstacles that the combination of the unanimity requirement and powerful veto players may create at any moment during ratification. The alternatives are not particularly attractive, since they have significant political costs and effects. Caught between a set of less than optimal alternatives for proceeding with treaty revision, the European Union seems placed between a rock and a hard place. This paper explores whether revision is at all feasible under current or alternative procedures, and argues that any option is sub-optimal.